Space photos of the day: Spacewalks

View Gallery

On a spacewalk, astronaut Owen K. Garriott, science pilot, retrieves an imagery experiment from the Apollo Telescope Mount attached to the Skylab in Earth orbit in 1973. NASA

Astronaut James B. Irwin, lunar module pilot, works at the Lunar Roving Vehicle during the first Apollo 15 lunar surface extravehicular activity at the Hadley-Apennine landing site in 1971. The shadow of the Lunar Module "Falcon" is in the foreground. This view is looking northeast, with Mount Hadley in the background. The photograph was taken by astronaut David R. Scott, commander.NASA

The Apollo 9 Command/Service Modules (CSM) nicknamed "Gumdrop" and Lunar Module (LM), nicknamed "Spider" are shown docked together as Command Module pilot David R. Scott stands in the open hatch. Astronaut Russell L. Schweickart, Lunar Module pilot, took this photograph of Scott during his EVA as he stood on the porch outside the Lunar Module. NASA

Astronaut Dale A. Gardner, having just completed the major portion of his second extravehicular activity (EVA) period in three days, holds up a "For Sale" sign refering to the two satellites, Palapa B-2 and Westar 6 that they retrieved from orbit after their Payload Assist Modules (PAM) failed to fire.NASA

Astronaut Robert Satcher uses a digital still camera to take a self-portrait during the STS-129 mission's first spacewalk in 2009. NASA

Astronaut Robert L. Curbeam, Jr., STS-98 mission specialist, was photographed during the second of three spacewalks by a member of the Expedition 1 crew in the newly installed Destiny laboratory.NASA

On June 3, 1965 Edward H. White II became the first American to step outside his spacecraft and let go, effectively setting himself adrift in the zero gravity of space. For 23 minutes White floated and maneuvered himself around the Gemini spacecraft while logging 6500 miles during his orbital stroll. White was attached to the spacecraft by a 25 foot umbilical line and a 23-ft. tether line, both wrapped in gold tape to form one cord. NASA

STS-88 mission specialist James Newman, holding on to a handrail, waves back at the camera during the first of three Extravehicular activities performed during the 1998 mission. The orbiter can be seen reflected in his visorNASA

During his 37 years as Zimbabwe’s prime minister and president, Robert Mugabe ordered the massacre of thousands of political opponents, ran the country’s economy into the ground, and instilled a culture of political violence and paranoia that will likely long outlast him.